Thursday, September 25, 2008

Boris Artzybasheff was born in the Ukraine in 1899. At 18 his schooling was interrupted by the Russian Revolution & Boris fought with the White Russian army against the Communists. He escaped to the USA unable to speak English & with only 14 cents to his name. After a stint in the military he began working his way up as an illustrator, developing a striking & surreal vision of anthropomorphized figures, like the swastikas pictured above. Check his stuff out. He seems to be a key influence on one of my personal favorites: Basil Wolverton, although their similarity could just be coincidental.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

From the German satirical magazine "Ulk" which ceased publication in 1933. The visual is probably a partial reference to Hitler's obsession with the American West.

"His favorite game to play outside was cowboys and Indians. Tales of the American West were very popular among boys in Austria and Germany. Books by James Fenimore Cooper and especially German writer Karl May were eagerly read and re-enacted. May, who had never been to America, invented a hero named Old Shatterhand, a white man who always won his battles with Native Americans, defeating his enemies through sheer will power and bravery. Young Hitler read and reread every one of May's books about Old Shatterhand, totaling more than 70 novels. He continued to read them even as Führer. During the German attack on the Soviet Union he sometimes referred to the Russians as Redskins and ordered his officers to carry May's books about fighting Indians." ~David Meier "Hitler's Rise to Power"

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Wanted pictures of Adolf Hitler, prepared in various disguises in case he escaped with his life after the Second World War, were published for the first time in the news magazine Der Spiegel in 1998.

Fearing that Hitler might try to flee Germany incognito, American agents working for the Office of Strategic Services produced images of the Third Reich leader without his moustache, bald and with full beard and glasses.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Danny Shoup reminded me about the "Hitler's Cross" cafe in Mumbai, India, which changed its name after pressure from the ADL, German & Israeli diplomats & India's Jewish community. Puneet Sabhlok, a novice restaurateur, says he wanted a catchy café name to sell his $3 to $4 plates of crostini tonno, pear & ricotta salad and pannacotta. So he went with Hitler's Cross. He put a swastika in the logo.

"Hitler is a catchy name. Everyone knows Hitler," he explained in an interview.

The Chairman of the Indian Jewish Federation, Jonathan Solomon, told the BBC that Mr Sabhlok came to his residence for a meeting on Thursday morning & was "very apologetic". Mr Solomon said that he hoped that the restaurateur had "acted out of ignorance rather than malice". "The opening of a restaurant with such a name has shocked us & all right thinking persons around the world," he said. Remember to be "right thinking" everybody at home!